Inti Raymi

Inti Raymi is held every 24 June in Cusco, Peru, on the Southern Hemisphere winter solstice. It is a modern public re-enactment of an Inca state ceremony dedicated to Inti, the sun, staged in Quechua with music, processions, and formal speeches by actors. The action begins at Qorikancha, the colonial Santo Domingo complex built over the Inca Temple of the Sun, moves through the Plaza de Armas, and ends at Sacsayhuamán above the city. The central figure is the Sapa Inca, carried in elaborate costume, accompanied by the Qoya, nobles, soldiers, and delegations representing the four suyus of Tawantinsuyu.

Through the day, spectators line the streets early and then follow the ceremony from one site to the next. At Qorikancha the Inca salutes the sun; in the Plaza de Armas there are dances, formal exchanges with civic authorities, and the ceremonial entry of the royal court. The largest performance at Sacsayhuamán includes pututu shell trumpets, drums, choreographed dances, offerings of chicha and coca, and a symbolic llama sacrifice rather than a real one. June in Cusco is festival season, so people spend hours outdoors in the dry, cold highland air, wrapped in hats, ponchos, and bright woven textiles, and many say, “¡Feliz Inti Raymi!”

The pack has 36 words spread across these domains.